Project

The second ECM album from Swiss/Italian trio Third Reel takes its open-plan music to another level. Emanuele Maniscalco, Nicolas Masson and Roberto Pianca all bring music into Third Reel, and each of them has his own distinct compositional signature, but from the outset their pieces are “always conceived as material for multiple, unpredictable developments,” as Maniscalco says. Compositional guidelines are like gateways into fields to explore. Masson’s elegant clarinet and lean-toned tenor are emphasized on this recording, Maniscalco floats between drums and piano, quietly lyrical on both instruments, and Pianca is most often a kind of real-time orchestrator, subtly enfolding the interaction with swelling sustained chords, or underlining it with thick drones.

Most of the first half of the album features primarily Emanuele Maniscalco’s compositions, and a chamber music feel, aligning the group on this showing to the reflective tradition of Giuffre and Bley – perhaps most evident on

“Afterwards”, where Maniscalco’s rubato piano is shadowed by Masson’s clarinet. The second half of the programme is comprised mostly of Nicolas Masson’s pieces, including “White”, dedicated to Masabumi Kikuchi, as well as the album’s title track, its melody unfolded by a serpentine tenor line gaining steadily in power. Of Roberto Pianca’s pieces, “Lara’s Song” is a pensive ballad and “Happy People” less jolly than its title might imply, with active broken-time drums flickering behind a stately theme. Unusually for a group that takes chances with its material, Third Reel keeps things concise, none of the 13 pieces in the programme passing the five-minute mark.

Many More Days was recorded at Auditorio Stelio Molo RSI, Lugano, in August 2014 with Manfred Eicher as producer.